Vietnam leads PMI rankings

According to the survey, Việt Nam’s PMI – a composite single-figure indicator of manufacturing performance – was 54.9 in July, down marginally from 55.7 in June but still one of the highest since the survey began in March 2011. Business conditions have now strengthened in each of the past 32 months. “The Việt Nam manufacturing PMI remained elevated in July as the sector continued to grow strongly. Supporting the overall expansion in the latest survey period was an accelerated increase of new export orders. Confidence in the future was meanwhile illustrated by efforts by firms to build inventory reserves in order to prepare for further production growth and further solid hiring,” Andrew Harker, Associate Director at IHS Markit, which compiles the survey, said. The survey showed that new manufacturing orders continued to increase at a substantial pace in July, with the rate of growth only fractionally weaker than June’s 87-month high. Respondents indicated that the rise in new business was in line with stronger client demand. Meanwhile, the rate of growth in new export orders quickened in July and was only slightly slower than May’s series record. Firms responded to new orders by increasing output again in the latest survey period. The rate of expansion remained sharp, despite easing from the previous month. All three broad sectors saw output increase, led by intermediate goods. The strong increase in output was sufficient to reduce backlogs of work for the second month running in July, albeit marginally. “Higher workloads encouraged manufacturers to… [Read full story]